--D Daniel Tjarnqvist, playing in his second game of the season, gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the first period when he drilled David Jones' pass behind Manny Legace. Tjarnqvist was between the faceoff circles when he one-timed Jones' shot into the net. It was Jones' first point in 11 games, and the goal was the first by a Colorado defenseman in 10 games, since John-Michael Liles scored on Nov. 2 against San Jose.

"I was in the slot and I saw an opportunity and I took it," said Tjarnqvist, who played last season in Russia and previously scored an NHL goal for Edmonton on Dec. 28, 2006. "I can't remember the last one I had, so this one felt really good."

--LW Ian Laperriere had a big game for the Avalanche. He scored a third-period goal, had an assist on Daniel Tjarnqvist's first-period goal and helped kill off a four-minute Blues power play to end the game after T.J. Hensick was given a double-minor for high-sticking. The Blues had a six-on-four advantage for the final 2:05 with G Manny Legace on the bench for an extra skater.

"That's huge, a six-on-four especially, and they've got a bunch of snipers there," Laperriere said. "You always worry when they have a two-man advantage, but we did the job. We battled."

--C Paul Stastny played against his older brother, Blues C Yan Stastny, for the first time in an NHL game. They got a little testy during a scrum in front of Blues G Manny Legace.

"He hit me in the face, so I hit him right back," Paul Stastny said. "He was all ticked off, but after that the emotions let loose a little bit. He's not going to take it easy on little brother. I'm used to it."

Hall of Famer and dad Peter Stastny was back in Europe and undoubtedly watched the game via satellite.

"I think he's so proud of us," Paul Stastny said. "I'm sure he sat back -- it's 4 in the morning in Slovakia -- and probably had a glass of wine or something."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We need to be ugly, just like my face." -- Avalanche forward Ian Laperriere, on the team's style of play.